If your web developer has disappeared, you can usually regain control of your website by recovering three things in this order: your domain name, your hosting account, and your website’s admin login. Start by finding out who registered your domain, because whoever controls the domain controls where your website and email point. Then secure hosting access, reset your website login, take a full backup, and change every password. Most businesses can get back in control within a few days to a few weeks.
This happens more often than you’d think. A freelancer moves on, an agency closes, or an employee who managed the site leaves. Here’s a step-by-step plan to take your website back, and how to make sure you’re never locked out again.
First, Don’t Panic and Don’t Start Over
Many business owners assume they need a brand new website. Usually they don’t. Your domain, your content, and your search rankings all have value, and in most cases they can be recovered. Before you pay anyone to rebuild, work through the steps below.
The Three Things You Need to Control
1. Your Domain Name
Your domain is your address on the internet, such as yourbusiness.com. It’s registered through a company called a registrar, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Squarespace Domains. This is the most important asset, because it controls where your website and your email go.
2. Your Hosting Account
Hosting is where your website’s files and database live. Common hosts include WP Engine, SiteGround, Bluehost, and GoDaddy. Sometimes the domain and hosting are with the same company, and sometimes they’re separate.
3. Your Website Admin Login
This is the login you use to edit your site, such as the WordPress dashboard. It’s the easiest of the three to recover once you have the first two.
Step 1: Find Out Who Controls Your Domain
Search for your domain in a WHOIS lookup tool, such as the one at lookup.icann.org. It will show the registrar and, sometimes, the registered owner. Many records are privacy protected, but the registrar’s name will still appear.
Next, search your email for messages from that registrar. Look for renewal notices, receipts, or welcome emails. Check old inboxes and ask anyone who may have set things up, including former employees and your bookkeeper. Credit card statements can also reveal which company you’ve been paying.
- If the domain is in your name or your business’s name: Use the registrar’s account recovery process. You may need to verify your identity or provide business documents.
- If the domain is in your developer’s name: This is harder. Keep trying to reach them, in writing, and ask for a transfer. If they don’t respond, the registrar may have a dispute or ownership change process, and an attorney can advise you on your options.
Step 2: Get Into Your Hosting Account
You can often identify your host with a hosting lookup tool, or by checking your billing records. As with the domain, search your email for the host’s name and try the account recovery process.
If the hosting account belongs to your developer and you can’t reach them, you still have options:
- If you have WordPress admin access, a backup plugin can export your entire site, which can then be moved to hosting you control.
- If you have control of the domain but not the hosting, your site can be rebuilt or restored elsewhere and the domain pointed to the new location.
- Contact the host’s support team and explain the situation. They can’t hand over someone else’s account, but they can tell you what’s possible.
Step 3: Recover Your Website Login
On a WordPress site, go to yourdomain.com/wp-admin and use the “Lost your password?” link. If the reset email goes to an address you don’t control, someone with hosting access can reset the password or create a new administrator account directly in the database.
If you’re not sure what platform your site uses, a tool like BuiltWith can tell you.
Step 4: Back Everything Up
As soon as you have access, take a complete backup of your site’s files and database, and download a copy to your own computer or cloud storage. Do this before you change anything else. If something goes wrong later, you’ll have a safe copy.
Step 5: Lock It Down
- Change the passwords for your domain, hosting, website, and any connected email accounts.
- Update the contact email on every account to one your business controls, ideally a shared address like admin@yourbusiness.com.
- Remove user accounts you don’t recognize or no longer need.
- Turn on two-factor authentication wherever it’s offered.
- Update payment methods so renewals don’t fail.
- Turn on auto-renew for your domain.
Step 6: Check What Else Your Developer Set Up
Developers often create accounts for other tools on your behalf. Make a list and confirm you have access to each one:
- Google Analytics and Google Search Console
- Google Business Profile
- Email hosting, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
- Premium themes and plugin licenses
- Email marketing or CRM tools, such as HubSpot or Mailchimp
- Payment processors and online store accounts
- Stock photo and font licenses
For Google tools, you can usually add yourself as an owner by verifying that you control the domain.
Step 7: Get a Health Check
A site that’s been unattended may be out of date. Have someone review software versions, security, backups, and speed. Outdated plugins are one of the most common ways websites get hacked, so bring everything up to date carefully, with a backup in place first.
A Note on Email
If your business email uses your domain, such as you@yourbusiness.com, be careful when changing domain settings. Email is routed by records attached to your domain. Moving the domain or changing its settings without copying those records can interrupt your email. Before making changes, note your current DNS records or have someone experienced handle the move.
What If You Can’t Recover Anything?
It’s rare, but sometimes a domain or site truly can’t be recovered. In that case:
- Save what you can. Copy your text and download images from the live site. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine may have older copies of your pages.
- Register a new domain in your own name, as close to the original as possible.
- Rebuild on hosting you control.
- Update your Google Business Profile, directory listings, and social profiles with the new address.
For disputes over who owns a domain or website, talk to an attorney. This article is general information, not legal advice.
How to Make Sure This Never Happens Again
- Register your domain in your business’s name, using an email address your business controls.
- Own your hosting account, or make sure your contract says you can get a full copy of your site at any time.
- Keep at least two administrator accounts on your website: yours and your developer’s.
- Store logins in a shared password manager, not in one person’s head.
- Keep a simple document listing every account connected to your website.
- Put ownership in writing. Your agreement should state that you own your domain, content, and website.
- Make sure regular backups are stored somewhere you can reach.
How Bright House Media Can Help
We regularly help Marin and Sonoma County businesses take over websites after a developer has moved on. We can identify where your domain and hosting live, help you recover access, back up and secure your site, bring it up to date, and maintain it going forward. Every client we work with keeps ownership of their own domain, content, and website. Learn more about our WordPress maintenance plans and website audits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do first if my web developer disappears?
Find out who controls your domain name. Use a WHOIS lookup to identify the registrar, then search your email and billing records for that account.
Can I get my website back without my developer?
In most cases, yes. If the domain or hosting is in your name, the provider’s account recovery process can restore access. If you have admin access to the site, it can be backed up and moved to hosting you control.
What if the domain is registered in my developer’s name?
Keep requesting a transfer in writing. If you get no response, ask the registrar about its dispute or ownership change process, and consider speaking with an attorney.
Do I need to build a new website?
Usually not. Most sites can be recovered, backed up, and updated. A rebuild is only needed if the site can’t be accessed or is too outdated to repair.
How do I prevent being locked out again?
Register your domain and hosting in your business’s name, keep your own administrator login, store passwords in a shared password manager, and put ownership in writing.
How long does it take to regain control of a website?
Many businesses regain control within a few days to a few weeks, depending on whose name the accounts are in and how quickly providers respond.
Need Help Getting Your Website Back?
If you’re locked out of your website and not sure where to start, contact Bright House Media for a free consultation. We’ll help you figure out where things stand and what to do next.
- Email: info@brighthousemedia.org
- Phone: (415) 450-5490